Evening Brief: Moronic misspeak

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he meets with members of Congress in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Tuesday, July 17, 2018, in Washington. Trump says he meant the opposite when he said in Helsinki that he doesn't see why Russia would have interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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Good evening to you.

The Lead:

We begin today in a cloud of confusion. A day after standing next to President Vladimir Putin at a joint press conference in Helsinki and insisting Russia did not meddle in America’s 2016 presidential election, President Donald Trump now says he misspoke. The U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia did indeed meddle in the 2016 presidential election? Yeah, he’s down with that now.

When asked about the meddling Monday, Trump said that while his intelligence officials had said “they think it’s Russia” that Putin “just said it’s not Russia.”

“I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be,” Trump said.

But back at the White House today, amid a blasting from all sides for “the most serious mistake of his presidency” — comments some have called treasonous — he told reporters that he meant to say wouldn’t instead of would.

“The sentence should have been ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.'”

Meanwhile in Ontario, things are already getting rowdy at Queen’s Park. Today was only day two and already question period under the new government has turned to name calling and finger pointing.

This morning, Premier Doug Ford and Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath traded sharp barbs and were repeatedly called out by the speaker. Decorum went south close to the top as Horwath asked questions about the government’s plans for sex-ed, the cost of the Hydro One CEO’s retirement and carding.

“We support our police, unlike the leader of the opposition and unlike their party that are police-haters, military-haters, veteran-haters, poppy-haters and—,” Ford said before being cut off by the speaker for unparliamentary language.

Ford withdrew the remarks after a request from Speaker Ted Arnott. As Marieke Walsh reports, Horwath is hoping the tense exchanges weren’t setting the tone for the next four years. “We should be talking about public policy, not screaming insults and telling lies frankly the way he did on the campaign trail.”

Also in question period, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner decried the Ford government’s decision to cancel cap-and-trade without first doing an economic analysis of the move. He says the evasive answers he received from Environment Minister Rod Phillips show the Tories don’t understand the impact of what they’ve done.

The association representing 1,400 of Ontario’s Indigenous educators says the province’s recent cuts to the Truth and Reconciliation curriculum revision are a “major setback” for reconciliation. The First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education Association of Ontario wrote to Education Minister Lisa Thompson expressing their disappointment after a two-week-long curriculum revision session was cancelled last week. The association wants to meet with the minister as soon as possible to “ensure this important and critical work continues in an efficient and timely manner.” Anna Desmarais reports.

Here on the Hill, the Trudeau government is giving new and promoted executives job offers at salaries that the besieged Phoenix payroll system can’t yet pay. The Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO) has notified departments that they can give letters of offer to new and promoted executives at higher salaries, which reflect the six-per-cent raises the government approved in June. They won’t, however, be in line for those increases until Phoenix is able to process the new salary ranges. More from Kathryn May.

Canada’s diplomatic mission in Washington was caught off guard by a high-profile spring trip where a trio of Tory senators met with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other Trump administration officials to discuss cannabis legalization. Internal emails obtained by iPolitics through Access to Information show Canada’s embassy in Washington, Global Affairs and other officials here at home only learned about the visit through press coverage, and were not contacted in advance for advice or input into the trip. Kyle Duggan has the details.

Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay’s chief of staff has resigned to run for the Liberals in her home riding of Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes. Mary Jean McFall left her post in MacAulay’s office on Monday. No interim replacement has been named yet. McFall had held the post since January 2016. That story from Kelsey Johnson.

While I had a great meeting with NATO, raising vast amounts of money, I had an even better meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia. Sadly, it is not being reported that way – the Fake News is going Crazy!

As for former CIA Director Michael Hayden, he said today he’s among those “laughing at” Trump following blowback to his comments about Russian election interference during a press conference this week.

In related news, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week to discuss a pair of controversial summits held by Trump, according to Republican aides. Pompeo will appear before the committee in open session on the afternoon of July 25 to answer questions about Trump’s meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. More from Politico.

Meanwhile, in his highest profile speech since leaving office, former U.S. President Barack Obama today denounced the policies of Trump without mentioning his name, taking aim at the “politics of fear, resentment, retrenchment,” and decrying leaders who are caught lying and “just double down and lie some more.” Obama was cheered by thousands in Johannesburg’s Wanderers Stadium as he marked the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth by urging respect for human rights, the free press and other values he said were under threat. Obama opened by calling today’s times “strange and uncertain,” adding that “each day’s news cycle is bringing more head-spinning and disturbing headlines.” The man’s got that right. More from AP.

It looks like former federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is going into broadcasting. He’s set to join iHeartRadio Canada’s CJAD 800 in Montreal as a political analyst in August, offering up his insights on Canadian federal politics as well as Quebec provincial politics twice daily on the Andrew Carter Morning Show and later on the Arron Rand Show. Later this fall, he’ll also be putting in regular appearances on CTV Power Play.

So, it seems Air Force One is getting a ‘more American’ paint job. Word is Trump was involved in the redesign, and based on the over-the-top, gold-covered penthouse he called home in Trump Tower, it should be quite the flying spectacle when it’s done.

“Air Force One is going to be incredible,” Trump told CBS in an interview over the weekend that aired on Tuesday. “It’s going to be the top of the line, the top in the world. And it’s going to be red, white and blue, which I think is appropriate.”

The Kicker:

Finally today, we leave you with the story of someone who went more than the extra mile. After his own car died, Walter Carr left his home just after midnight to make a 20-mile walk to make sure he’d get to work on time. Thanks to a social media post, once his boss heard the story, he made sure Carr never had to walk that far in the dark again.

On that lovely note, have a wonderful evening.

More from iPolitics

8 comments on “Evening Brief: Moronic misspeak”

Moronic misspeak? That’s an epic British-style understatement, kind of like when the queen said “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.” Or perhaps more apropos the repeated mantra in the famous SNL ‘it’s only a flesh wound’ skit.

Public spectacle and potential spy camera soccer ball aside folks seem really worried about what else may have been said or exchanged behind closed doors.

The issue isn’t moronic misspeak, it is the idiocy of following a man who does not know what he is doing. Whatever the Russia-gate shenanigans, it is ridiculous to hear about the election interference in America and ignore American interference everywhere else. They are hardly exemplars of democracy if elections are meant to be a demonstration of it in action. They interfere all the time. But, then so does everyone else. Maybe Russia interfered in the Crimea, China has done so in North Korea, heck our cons volunteered in the U.S (is that interference or just influence?), I would think the English did it in Northern Ireland, who is not doing it in Venezuela? The whole rhetorical display is a nonsense argument. Saudi Arabia is invading Yemen and isolating Qatar, are either of them democratic or does it matter? Democracy is what the strong say it is? Iran is democratic, but everyone is suspicious of them. I don’t know; I do know Trump betrayed his own country’s Intelligences/Spy Agencies/ Information, and that was just st^%$ and we’re following him hoping to trade a dollar more by demonizing Russia. What does that make us? We stand up for the right kind of democracy? Right now, that is supporting a white supremacist in the U.S, a neo-nazi in the Ukraine, I don’t know what to call Saudi Arabia but what they’re doing in Yemen is wrong, and this is not an indictment of Trudeau. Harper was hardly different. I suspect whatever democratic leadership we thought we had and what it meant is gone, nationally, internationally…we’re just kowtowing to a man unaware of what is going on, and calling ourselves leaders on the world stage.

No argument that Trump has a huge chemical imbalance mentally since birth. However, trying to figure out an insane person is a fruitless exercise. What should happen in the US now is a total reset of both parties.

Controls need to be designed to prevent unstable figures from passing through the leadership preliminaries. Neither party produced effective candidates which is how Trump was able to sneak through.

In past elections, with the credible candidates that were in place, Trump wouldn’t have made it through the first round of selections within his party.

Canada has the same issue, I personally do not have confidence in any current party leader. Picking what we believe to be the best of the worst is a sorry situation.

Would Scheer be an improvement—who knows, Jagmeet Singh is afraid to sit in the House of Commons?????????? He won’t run for a seat due to lack of drive and confidence. Trudeau can’t produce a coherent sentence when challenged on his blunders.

Strong and skilled leaders are hard to find. The next Canadian election will be tough call so voter turnout is one element of hope but no guarantee for the right leadership choice. My guess is a change of Government for the sake of change.

Agree, but think the issue is more the nonsense of partisanship politics than anything else, even the absolutely questionable running for office. Strange people do strange things, it is the nonsense of holding them to be responsible because they are the party rep rather than looking at their credibility. Republicans chose Trump because they wanted to win, not because he was the best republican. I find the whole impeachment defence embarrassing because they are just defending the guy regardless of what his habits dictate him do. They make a mockery of the institutions republicans were elected to defend….because of partisanship.

There are smart, capable people in parliament but partisanship and party discipline often seem to minimize what they can contribute.

Their behaviour and that of the ‘successful’ parties is largely a result of the rules of the first-past-the-post game.

We need electoral reform or nothing will change. I think we can do better than first-past-the-post. Why not try ranked ballot or pm on a trial basis / with a sunset clause? Because it might up-end the partisans? Because it might force the current parties to cooperate? Because we might hear more from fringe candidates and we might be forced to pay closer attention to the *person* we’re voting for and not just blindly vote for party? Because better government might be too much work? Because we lack the confidence that we can steer through unknown waters filled with unintended consequences?

Arguably we should be more scared of doing nothing constructive and letting our democracy decay to the point that voters choose a destructive option: a strongman peddling easy answers who pledges to blow it all up.

Nope. This time around no political will and no leadership despite having a clear election mandate to do something. And not on the climate change file, either – better tone and lots of talk but not much (some would say near zero as we still have the previous government’s targets that we’re still not going to meet) walk.

It’s sad .. if they get decimated because folks like me won’t believe them, we’re starting all over again and another decade is lost. If we hold our noses and vote them in again then we embolden them to break more fundamental promises. Until it gets to the point that we collectively press the Doug Ford button. First-past-the-post really amplifies small changes in voting numbers as well as regional differences. The difference between 28% and 25% popular vote can mean flipping from one ‘majority’ to the next. That’s why (imho ugly) wedge politics are arguably so effective under first-past-the-post. For an extreme example remember that Kim Campbell got 16% of the popular vote, only 3 percent less than Preston Manning and her party was nearly completely wiped out, while Mr. Manning gained 51 seats.

Having said that depending on what happens in BC this fall I fully expect the Liberals to jump back on the ER bandwagon. Once again it seems that it’s up to the provinces to lead.